Pablo Hernandez believes he is close to being back at his best after returning to the side to help United record back-to-back victories, a feeling underlined by his superb strike in Saturday’s 2-0 win away to Cardiff City.

Hernandez, a loan arrival from Qatari club Al-Arabi last month, was brought back into the starting line-up for last week’s Sky Bet Championship clash with Tuesday's EFL Cup visitors Blackburn Rovers and maintained his place to play a starring role in the weekend’s victory in south Wales.

The Spaniard wrapped up the three points with his first United goal seven minutes from time, gliding towards the edge of the Cardiff area before rifling beyond the helpless Ben Amos and into the top corner after Chris Wood’s penalty had opened the scoring.

Hernandez says he has felt the benefit of playing the majority of the last two fixtures (90 minutes vs Blackburn and 89 minutes vs Cardiff) and is now hoping the team can continue to profit from his contribution from attacking midfield.

“I’ve felt good on the pitch in the last two games,” he said. “My first games here were difficult because I didn’t play any games in pre-season and hadn’t trained a lot in Qatar.

“But I think these last two games have been very important for me. I played 90 minutes against Blackburn last week and played most of the game on Saturday, too. That is good for me.

“I’m very happy that I was able to help the team win the game on Saturday.

“It’s good for my confidence when I score but, more importantly, it helped the team get the three points.

“It’s very important for us to win two games in a row because we didn’t start the season too good. Now, with these two wins, I think the team can keep going with confidence.”

Alongside Garry Monk and stand-in skipper Kyle Bartley, Hernandez’s Swansea City connections meant Saturday’s trip to the Welsh capital came with extra spice for some of those within the United camp, but the 31-year-old insists getting the result for his new club was the only thing on his mind.

“I played for Swansea for two years and, during my last year, Cardiff were also in the Premier League,” he said.

“The derby is an important game for both supporters but I didn’t think about that on the pitch on Saturday. The only thing I wanted to do was to win the game for my team now, which is Leeds.

“That was the most important thing for me. I’m very happy that we won the game and that I scored.”

Asked about his future, with United having the option to making his loan deal permanent later this season, Hernandez added: “I don’t think about that – I only think in the present and about the next game.

“But I’m very happy here in Leeds and, more importantly for me, we’re starting to play well on the pitch because there’s confidence here.

“The most important thing for me is to play well and continue winning games. Then the time will come to speak to the club about my future.”